The Saudi Telecommunication Company (Etisalat) recently approved new mobile telephone rates, which will be effective as of November 1. Fixed telephone fees will be lowered from 500 ($133) to 300 ($80) Saudi Riyals and mobile telephone fees will be lowered from SR 800 ($213) to SR 500 ($133), reported Al-Watan.

The discounts are the result of large turnovers since the company was established in 1998, stated Etisalat Chief Executive Khaled Abdulla Melhem. The company’s sales totaled SR 17 billion (four billion dollars) in 2000 and SR 14.5 million (three million dollars) in 1999. Melhem predicted sales would exceed SR 20 billion by the end of 2001 despite the recent price reductions.

Etisalat has also expanded its service, installing 450,000 fixed telephone lines and 1.5 million mobile telephone lines by April 2002. Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson firms won tenders in August totaling $800 million to develop Saudi Arabia’s mobile phone network. Etisalat’s mobile telephone system has service in 95 percent of urban areas. — (menareport.com)